Shortages of pediatric HIV medicines in India as Cipla curtails production

19 April 2017

Though India drug major Cipla (BOM: 500087) recently received approval from the US health regulator for its generic abacavir and lamivudine tablets used for the treatment for HIV infection, some 600 children in India have been battling a shortage of anti-HIV syrup lopinavir, with the National Aids Control Organization (NACO) depleted of its stock of lopinavir and ritonavir syrup, supplied by Cipla, reports The Pharma Letter’s India correspondent.

A payment tussle between the Indian government and Cipla, the sole supplier of the medicines, led to the company phasing out production of the syrup in 2015, and replacing it with tablets. However, lopinavir and ritonavir pellets have not yet been approved by India's health regulator,

Healthcare activists at the Delhi Network of Positive People have alleged that given the syrup shortage, pediatric lopinavir and ritonavir tablets have been used as an alternative to the syrup for some time, putting infants' lives at risk.

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